"What is it?" Areum watched from the ground as a young man with messy hair and multiple piercings walked up to Jungseop causing the older man to tear his eyes away from Eunhyuk.
"What?" Jungseop replied confused. "Ui-myeong said you were looking for me." The young man sighed, his annoyance clear.
Jungseop looked at Ui-myeong who was standing behind the young man and he shrugged.
"What? No, I wasn't." Jungseop shrugged as well. There was a moment of silence as the young man realized he was lied to, "You son of a bitch!" He boomed, spinning around to stare at the gang member behind him.
Areum felt Suyeong flinch on her lap and quickly began rocking her again, burying Suyeong's face in her shoulder.
"Did you find anything?" Jungseop asked with a grin causing the young man to clench his jaw and turn to look at his leader.
"A girl." Areum closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, endless thoughts about Jisu rapidly flying through her mind.
"She's hurt." The young man continued and looked at his shuffling feet. "Don't frown." Jungseop scolded, "These people are already scared."
Jungseop walked away from the circle, the other members dispersing in their own directions as Eunyoo tugged on Eunhyuk's wrist and he turned to kneel down.
"Stop standing up to them! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Eunyoo shot at her brother.
"I did it because I want to live." Eunhyuk quickly explained, his eyes meeting with Hyungsu's
The conversation between Eunhyuk and Hyngsu flew by Areum, her mind occupied by other thoughts as she glared at the red line in front of her.
***
It wasn't long before Jungseop appeared again, his dirty hands clutching a stack of papers.
"Who's the leader here?" Jungseop asked and Areum's eyes shot up to Eunhyuk, their eyes meeting instantly.
Her eyes begged him to stay still and he slowly reached out and gently squeezed her ankle, a small but reassuring smile on his face.
"Who made these?" Junseop asked again and threw the paper to the floor prompting Eunhyuk to stand up, pulling his hands away from Areum, "I did." He answered.
"I heard there was even surgery performed here. Who did that?" Jungseop smirked. "I did," Eunhyuk repeated himself.
Jungseop laughed, "Everyone else here is completely useless." He motioned to everyone sitting around Eunhyuk.
"There is an old man, a cripple and even a patient. This place is the worst by far but there are a lot of people surviving here. You're young but I guess you're capable." Jungseop gave props to Eunhyuk and stepped forward, a smile forming on his face.
"I like you. What do you say?" He cocked his head to the side. "Will you abandon them and join me, or will you just...die?" He chuckled.
Areum looked up at Eunhyuk and watched him clench his jaw, his hands buried in his pockets as he slyly glanced at her before stepping out of the circle.
Areum's heart dropped, but not because she was afraid Eunhyuk was abandoning them but because she didn't know what his plan was.
There were whispers of surprise in the crowd as Eunhyuk took his place next to Jungseop. "You made a good choice." The scarred man smiled at Eunhyuk, who stared emotionlessly at the ground.
"Sir!" Someone pushed through the crowd of members. "There's a monster here!" He cried in fear and an annoyed look appeared on Junseop's face before he disappeared into the dark hallways, Eunhyuk following him.
Gilseop wrapped his arms around Areum, Suyeong, and Yoori and pulled them into his chest. "It's going to be okay." He lulled, gently rubbing Areum and Yoori's arms but it wasn't long before a gunshot rang through the hallways and Areum tensed.
"No!" She fought to stand up but Gilseop quickly pulled her back into his arms. Areum howled at the thought of Eunhyuk's lifeless body and yelled more when the same images of Mrs Kim, Jisu and Yeongsu came to mind.
"Areum, please." Gilseop fought her to calm down and she finally did when she heard Suyeong sniffle causing her to look down at the little girl clinging to her, her rosy cheeks glistening with tears.
Areum immediately pulled her into her chest and placed a kiss on her head. Although Areum was numb she squeezed Suyeong tightly. "It's okay." Areum trembled.
"You all need to calm down before we kill someone else." One of the gang members pointed a gun to Areum and she stared straight down the barrel.
There was a quick flash of movement in Areum's peripheral vision and her blurry eyes investigated. She stared at Sangwook in shock as he hid in one of the hallways. He quickly placed a finger against his lips before pointing behind Areum.
Areum looked back at the guard still pointing the gun at her, "Sorry." She spat, just wanting to get the man's attention off her so she could see what Sangwook was pointing at.
The man scuffed and stepped back, his eyes staring off into the distance and Areum quickly glanced behind her seeing Yikeong hiding behind a pile of rubble, her eyes counting the number of enemies surrounding the circle.
Areum slowly turned back at Sangwook and he pointed to her before drawing a line down his cheek. He wanted her to cause a scene and distract the gang members. Areum blinked slowly, signalling that she understood the plan and Sangwook quickly held up 5 fingers.
She needed to do it soon while Jungseop and some of the other members weren't around. She watched Sangwook disappear into the dark hallway, Yeongsu clinging to his back.
"Appa, take her, I'm not feeling well." Areum gently slid Suyeong into her father's lap prompting Gilseop to look at Areum over his half-moon glasses, "What's wrong?" He questioned as his arm tightened around Suyeong.
Areum quietly shook her head. "E-excuse me?" She trembled as she looked at the man who had just pointed the gun at her with big, shiny eyes as tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"I don't feel so well." Areum slowly stood up as she clamped her hand over her mouth and slid her arm around her waist, cradling her stomach while she stumbled out the circle.
The man immediately looked at Areum in fear and lifted his pistol to her head. Areum stared at the gun and took a deep, shaky breath before she dashed forward and grabbed the barrel of the gun, twisting is violently backwards.
The man cried out in pain and pulled his fingers to safely and Areum shakily flipped the gun, quickly pointing it at the man's leg, she squeezed the trigger and watched as blood flew in all directions.
Areum jumped, flailing the gun around in fear as Yikeong sprung into action and knocked one of the men out with a swift punch. The residents began to panic and scatter in all directions as the sound of automatic gunfire filled the foyer.
Yikeong disappeared with a trail of bullets following her while Areum used the grip of the gun to hit the man over the head when he tried to get up, knocking him out.
"Sorry," Areum whispered before she heard Eunhyuk's voice. "Hynsu! Now!" He cried, jumping forward and trapping Jungseop in his arms. Hynsu sprinted to the skinny man standing next to Jungseop and pushed him over, sending him flying across the tiles.
The other residents also began to retaliate as Byeongi and Jaehwan attacked one of the members effectively creating utter chaos as bullets rained from every direction and panicked screams made Areum's skin crawl.
"Everyone, stop!" Jungseop barked after subduing Eunhyuk to the floor and Areum watched Jungseop point a gun to Eunhyuk's head causing her to instinctively raise the pistol to him.
"Stand down before I blow his brains out." Jungseop whispered, his eyes bulging from his skull. "Eunhyuk!" Areum cried partly in relief and partly in worry, the gun shaking in her hands. "Areum, it's okay." He comforted her from the floor as he stared at the gun placed against his head.
Areum slowly raised her hands in surrender before bending and placing the pistol on the tiles, the other residents also releasing their prisoners and stepping back.
"Sir!" Someone whispered drawing everyone's attention to the skinny figure slowly making its way into the room.
A shot ran out but Mrs Kim didn't flinch, instead, she stuck her hand straight through the man's throat, his body tumbling to the floor in a pool of his own blood. Mrs Kim's eyes fixed on Eunhyuk and she slowly made her way to him as she pulled her fist back.
"No!" Areum cried but it turned into a whimper when Hyunsu jumped in front of Eunhyuk, Mrs Kim sending a rod-like appendage through his chest.
Her eyes rolled back into her skull as she stabbed Hyunsu deeper, his gasps quiet and painful. Hynsu fought to lift his head, his eyes locking with hers as he slowly lifted his hands and wrapped them around Mrs Kim's neck, his grip tightened causing Mrs Kim's eyes to bulge as her face swelled and turned bright red.
A final gunshot ran through the building, it seemed louder than the rest because of the deadly silence that preceded and chunks of Mrs Kim's brain began to ooze to the floor.
Eunhyuk looked back at Areum in panic and watched her drop the pistol. "Eomma." She was deathly pale as she whimpered, her face contorting in pain when Mrs Kim fell to the floor as nothing but a pile of flesh.
Eunhyuk dashed to Areum, catching her before she hit the ground, the broken girl letting out a bellowing scream of agony as she choked on her own tears, every memory she shared with Mrs Kim manifesting itself in another tear gushing down her cheek as her body turned to jello in Eunhyuk's arms.
The heartwrenching noises Areum made caused the resident's eyes to burn as they watched her cling to Eunhyuk as grief drowned her features.
***
Eunhyuk wrapped his flannel around Areum, she was shaking uncontrollably as she hid her face in his chest. There was still smoke rising from Mrs Kim's charred body, her ashes slowly crumbling to the floor but Eunhyuk kept Areum's face hidden in his shirt.
"She's really going to die this time," Seungwan stated, staring in grief at Mrs Kim's body from within the circle. The words causing Areum to knead Eunhyuk's bicep for relief.
"Shut up, you idiot." One of the men spat, threatening Seungwan with his gun. The residents were in bitter spirits and none of them had the energy to react.
Just then the young man with the messy hair and piercings marched into the room, ignoring the questions from the other members. He walked up to Yoori and sniffed her hear, "You smell like disinfectant." He whispered sadistically and smiled down at her.
"You better go over there." He pointed to a room just shy of the foyer, "The patient's in bad condition."
Yoori gulped before quietly standing up and making her way to the room. "Yoori." Areum protested weakly, but Eunhyuk softly pulled her back into his lap. Yoori glanced back and smiled at Areum and then at Gilseop who was reaching out trying to stop her from leaving.
"It's okay. She's going to help Jisu." Eunhyuk whispered to Areum, rubbing her back soothingly. One of the gang members pointed a rifle as Gilseop, forcing him to sit down but his eyes were glued on Yoori as she disappeared into the room, the young man shutting the doors behind them.